“Predators and prey” by Abhinav Agarwal is a fast-paced, nail-biting thriller that keeps you glued to the end. This novel is a veritable treat for many reasons. The main storyline emanates from a data theft at the NSA and provides a gripping, minute by minute account of the exciting events that follow within a short period of time. In the process, the alert reader learns a lot about what access to individual data means in our times.
We also get to see the battle for supremacy at the highest and deepest levels of power. A well-informed reader will recognize shades of real-life political influencers among the characters. For example, how can a story about espionage and security not have a fictional analogue of Ajit Doval? They will also form interesting perspectives about some events that have shaped our current geopolitical landscape.
The pace of the writing is relentless; it is impossible to relax at any moment of the story. The detailed visual descriptions make you feel as if you are travelling with the protagonist(s). Just as you start to feel that they have seen the worst, a new development makes you sit up with a start.
All in all, every minute spent reading this book is worth it. For enhanced enjoyment, one should either read it on a flight (and therefore, without distractions from the internet) or late at night when everyone else is asleep.
The only downside is that at least for a couple of days after reading this book, the sensitive reader will be scared. Very scared.
The Moradabad District Administration has sent a notice of fine of Rs 1 crore 4 lakh and 8 thousand to the poet and Congress leader Imran Pratapgarhi for being involved in demonstrations against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and violating Section 144. In the notice sent, the administration has accounted for a daily expenditure of Rs 13 lakh 42 thousand in the protest against the CAA which has been continuing at Moradabad Idgah since January 29.
As per the reports, the demonstration in Moradabad is regarded as a threat to the social harmony of the town, prompting the district administration to spend a fortune on maintaining law and order and preventing any untoward incident. Slapping the notice against Congress leader, the administration has accused Pratapgarhi of inciting people to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
In a recent gathering at Idgah, Pratapgarhi said, ”In the last few days, we have seen pictures and videos which brings to our mind the question of where our country is heading towards. Our daughters and sisters are persistently being tortured by the police. I will continue to participate in all such movements even further. This government cannot suppress our voice. The administration sent me a notice. I will see how to respond back. I will approach the High Court and if needed to the Supreme Court as well.”
It is pertinent to note that the Uttar Pradesh government had come down hard against the anti-CAA rioters who indulged in arson, vandalism and committed violence on the pretext of opposing the Citizenship Law. More than 150 notices were issued by Lucknow administration after Yogi Adityanath declared that those who indulge in violence will be made to pay for it or their properties will be seized for compensating the loss to the public exchequer. The Uttar Pradesh government had identified at least 498 properties to seize, which belonged to rioters who vandalised public properties in the state during the anti-CAA protest. Notices have been already sent to these protesters regarding the same.
The internecine conflict in Congress seems to have taken a grave turn as Senior Congress leader and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath dared his party member Jyotiraditya Scindia to hit the streets for agitation against non-fulfilment of the Congress party’s farm loan waiver promise.
#WATCH Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on being asked about Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia’s statement of taking to streets over not fulfilling the state government’s promise of waiving off farmers loan in the state: Toh utar jayein. pic.twitter.com/zg329BJSw0
In a cavalier disregard of the threat given by Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kamal Nath said “Toh Utar Jaye” when asked his reaction over the warning given by Scindia of launching ana agitation if the poll promise of complete farm loan waiver is not fulfilled by the Madhya Pradesh government.
Firing another warning shot at Kamal Nath, Jyotiraditya Scindia had yesterday threatened that he will hit the streets if each one of the promises made in the Congress manifesto is not fulfilled by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath. He also added that the Congress manifesto is sacrosanct for him and if it is not fulfilled, people would not be alone in their fight against the state government.
This is not the first time that Madhya Pradesh Congress’ fratricidal discord has come out in open. Earlier too, Scindia had overtly expressed his concerns over the implementation of promises made in Congress manifesto. In October last year, Scindia had slammed his own government in Madhya Pradesh, stating that the farm loan waiver in the state was not implemented in its entirety. “Loan of only Rs 50,000 has been waived off even when he ( CM Kamal Nath) had said that loan up to Rs 2 Lakh will be waived off. Farm loan up to Rs 2 Lakh should be waived off,” he had said while speaking in Bhind.
However, Kamal Nath had then quipped that the manifesto is for five years and not five months. The rift between the two leaders broadened after the top Congress committee went with the nine times MP Kamal Nath for the Madhya Pradesh chief minister, overlooking Scindia’s bid for the post. From Kamal Nath’s current response, it seems evident that Nath does not seem to hold Scindia in high regard since it is Nath who has the sanction of the Gandhi family and not Scindia.
The relations strained further when Kamal Nath also retained the top post of Madhya Pradesh Congress. In a major embarrassment for the Congress party, Scindia also extended his support Modi government’s historic move of ending the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, in opposition to the official stand of the Congress party on the matter.
Taking a step towards the hi-tech and environment-friendly initiative of Digital India, the Uttar Pradesh cabinet will be soon issuing iPads to its ministers to be used in cabinet meetings making it completely paperless. The first paperless cabinet meeting of Uttar Pradesh will be held next week.
A statement released by CMO stated, “On the instructions of CM Yogi Adityanath, all Cabinet Ministers will be given i-pads to make them techno-savvy. The Cabinet meeting which is scheduled to be held next week will be paperless, i-pads will be used.”
Training will be given to the MLAs who will be facing difficulty while running their devices. The notes of the ministry will be provided through an online channel, in their respective tablets.
The Digital India Initiative was launched by Prime Minister Modi on 1 July 2015 with the objective of creating digital literacy and overall rural connectivity with high-speed internet. Many key schemes are interconnected with the Digital India Initiative such as BharatNet, Bharatmala, Startup India and Standup India, Make in India, Sagarmala, industrial corridors, UDAN-RCS, dedicated freight corridors, and E-Kranti that are creating inclusion, transformation, growth, and empowerment among millions of Indians who never had access to internet someday.
UP CM Yogi Adityanath was last seen using his iPad during Defence Expo 2020 reading and taking notes. Earlier, Adityanath was seen using pen and paper for writing, but now he has decided that his cabinet will be more tech-savvy after getting direction from Prime Minister who appreciates technology and often seen using electronic devices during his meetings.
A Delhi Court on Saturday imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for not appearing in the court in connection with a defamation case filed by BJP leader Rajiv Babbar.
A Delhi court imposes fine of Rs 5,000 on Shashi Tharoor for not appearing before it for a hearing, in connection with a defamation case filed by BJP leader Rajiv Babbar. The case was filed by Babbar over Tharoor’s alleged “scorpion sitting on a Shivling” remark against PM Modi. pic.twitter.com/JICnMtrqgP
The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vishal Pahuja emphatically directed Tharoor to appear before the court on the next date of hearing on March 4.
Earlier in November 2019, the Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court had issued a bailable warrant against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor after he did not appear in the defamation case.
The case pertains to a defamation suit filed by Babbar over Tharoor’s alleged “Scorpion sitting on a Shivling” remark against Prime Minister Modi. Tharoor had said this in 2018 at the Bengaluru Literature festival.
In October 2018, while speaking at the literature festival, Shashi Tharoor stated that an unnamed RSS leader had told a journalist that PM Modi was like “a scorpion sitting on a Shivling — you cannot remove him with a hand and you cannot hit it with a chappal either”. He had called it “a remarkably striking metaphor”. Without naming the RSS leader, Tharoor alleged that some Sangh leaders were frustrated with their inability to put a curb on PM Modi.
Following these controversial remarks, BJP leader Rajeev Babbar had filed a defamation case against the former union minister, stating that his religious sentiments were hurt by the remarks. “I am a devotee of Lord Shiva…However, the accused (Shashi Tharoor) completely disregarded the sentiments of crores of Shiva devotees, (and) made the statement which hurt the sentiments of all Lord Shiva devotees, both in India and outside the country,” Babbar had said.
The digital ‘news’ outlet The Print, owned by ‘journalist’ Shekhar Gupta, who has a history of peddling half-truth, was slammed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for falsely attributing quotes which she had never made.
On February 14, The Print had come up with a report titled, “Why Nirmala Sitharaman doesn’t understand ”Bombay people””, in which, it had claimed, Nirmala Sitharaman had a post-Budget interaction with the captains of industry in Mumbai last week. The report was published in the Pre-Truth segment of the portal, a collection of snippets from the world of politics and government.
During the meeting, according to the Print article, she was confronted with probing questions on the rationale and impact of the continuance of the long-term capital gains tax as also the abolition of the dividend distribution tax.
The report further went on to claim that at one point, she snubbed an eminent participant, who is known as the ‘doyen of investment banking’ in India, saying, “I have done everything for you. What more do you want now?”
Screenshot of The Print report
The report claimed that the Finance Minister did not leave it at that. While leaving, she told them, “I don’t understand Bombay people. We have done everything but it is still 4.3 per cent (growth rate in the third quarter of this fiscal). What have you done?”
As per The Print report, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is known to rub people the wrong way, especially when she finds herself cornered.
Citing the report, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday strongly denied the quotes attributed to her by the report in The Print where she is quoted as snubbing industrialists and saying “I don’t understand Bombay people”. The finance minister said that if the report by The Print is not a parody then it is calumny, or fake and defamatory.
Is this parody? If not and if serious, this is calumny. The quotes attributed to me are not mine. https://t.co/f7CtNxTdX3
“Is this parody? If not and if serious, this is calumny. The quotes attributed to me are not mine,” the Finance Minister said in a tweet early on Saturday.
Following the embarrassment, the Print has issued a statement claiming that they have noted the Finance Minister’s tweet and taken it most seriously. “We are getting all the details re-checked right away and assure you of our commitment to accuracy and fairness,” the left-wing news outlet.
We have noted your tweet and take it most seriously. We are getting all the details re-checked right away and assure you of our commitment to accuracy and fairness.
The Print further released a statement claiming that they are holding back the report from their feature until further re-verification. The portal has removed the report from its Pre-Truth page for 14th February.
In a shocking incident in Pune, a minor argument led to a brawl resulting in 12 people lynching a 26-year-old man, Sagar Markad to death in front of his wife and infant in the Mumbai-Latur-Bidar Express on Thursday.
According to Jyoti, the wife of the victim, the compartment was packed and since there was no place to sit, Sagar requested some women in the general compartment to make some space for his wife. The women, however, did not agree, and on the contrary, started arguing with Sagar.
The argument escalated and suddenly the women along with the men they were accompanied by started beating Sagar with sticks. Jyoti said that she cried for help but no one in the compartment dared to intervene.
Later, Jyoti got help from the Railway police when the train halted at the Daund Junction. Her husband Sagar was rushed to a nearby hospital wherein the doctors declared him brought dead.
According to Jyoti, the family was on their way to attend the last rights of a relative and she was travelling with her husband, mother and two-year-old daughter. Reportedly, the Railway Police at Daund Junction arrested 12 people, including seven women, in connection with the incident. One of the 12 arrested people is underage and has been sent to a juvenile home.
As soon as this heinous crime hit the media headlines, social media users were left distressed and aghast. As is the norm, a ghastly incident like this comes with its own set of rumours attached to it. The inherent distrust that people have developed on the media only fuels these speculations further.
As the outrage grew, a message became viral on WhatsApp that claimed that the victim Sagar was lynched by a mob of Muslims after he asked a “Burkha clad” woman to shift to make space for his wife. The viral message said that this lynching would not be outraged against since the perpetrators were Muslims.
Whatsapp forward doing the rounds
While the assertions that the media and the ‘liberals’ refuse to outrage when the perpetrators are Muslims is true, in this case, the outrage is misplaced.
According to Lokmat, a popular newspaper in Maharashtra, the culprits who have been arrested for the lynching are Taibai Maruti Pawar (F30), Kalavati Dhondiba Chavhan (F65), Rupali Somnath Chavhan (F21), Ganesh Shivaji Chavhan (M24), Nikita Ashok Kale (F35), Jamuna Datta Kale (F20), Tai Hanumant Pawar (F35), Hanumant Ganpat Pawar (M30), Gangubai Namdev Kale (F40), Sonu Appa Kale (24) and a male juvenile have been apprehended by the police for questioning while one Somnath has escaped away.
Lokmath article
The same names are also corroborated by Sakal, another popular newspaper from Maharashtra. OpIndia also reached out to the police who confirmed the names reported by Sakal and Lokmat.
By all accounts, the version of events that say that a Burkha clad’s woman’s family were responsible for lynching 26-year-old Sagar Markad is untrue. It is thereby also untrue that the perpetrators were Muslims and from local reports, the names of the perpetrators are not Muslim names.
These rumours are a testament to the growing mistrust between the people and the media that is supposed to bring the facts to the people. There have been several times when the names of Muslim perpetrators have been hidden from the people. One recalls when TheNewsMinute had replaced the name of a Muslim culprit with a Hindu name as a “representational name” sparking outrage. There have also been several incidents where the media used the word ‘Tantrik’, which essentially means a Hindu practitioner of Tantra Vidya, to describe Muslim Maulvis who murdered or abused their victims.
A Hindu woman in Shimla has accused a Muslim man of converting her under duress and forcibly marrying her. She has filed a complaint with Shimla DC office, demanding strict action to be taken against the man.
In her complaint, the woman has alleged that the Muslim man took her to Delhi on the pretext of getting her a job and marrying her. However, on reaching Delhi, the man reportedly informed the woman that he is already married and has two kids from his previous marriage. When the woman came to know that the Muslim man is already married, she refused to marry him. After that, she was beaten by the man and his sister for refusing to marry the guy. The woman has alleged that she was converted against her will into Islam, and was forcibly married to the man. She has also stated that she was made to eat beef and was abandoned in a cemetery for a day by the man’s relatives.
The woman was allegedly held captive by the Muslim man named Shami in Delhi but she somehow managed to evade her captivity and reached Shimla on February 7. The woman then filed a complaint at the DC office in Shimla alleging forced conversion and marriage and accusing Shami’s family of forcing her to eat cow meat.
The District head of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Kushal has asked for stern action in the matter. He also said that police should ensure that people from neighbouring states do not come and stay in Himachal Pradesh without undergoing police verification.
On the other hand, Shami claimed that he was in love with the woman and married her as she was divorced. He also added that the woman is misguided by someone and is perversely connecting the matter with Love Jihad.
When OpIndia contacted Shimla police, they refused to divulge information on the case.
After failing to honour their promise of waiving farm loans, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has now cancelled the state-sponsored pilgrimage for at least 4000 senior citizens of the state just three days before their religious trip, reports Hindustan Times.
The Kamal Nath-led Madhya Pradesh has decided to cancel the pilgrimage, which is arranged under the ‘Mukhya Mantri Teerth Darshan Yojna’ (chief minister pilgrimage scheme) citing cost-cutting exercise. The decision comes just three days before the trip to Vaishno Devi, Kashi, Dwarka and Rameshwaram.
The first out of the five trains booked for the pilgrimage was scheduled to depart from Bhopal for the Vaishno Devi shrine with 800 passengers on February 15, as per the earlier schedule before the cancellation was announced.
However, the new order issued by the spiritual department of the MP government on February 12 states, “The programme regarding five teerth darshan trains under Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojna scheduled from February 15 to March 2, is cancelled due to unavoidable circumstances.”
Madhya Pradesh Minister Govind Singh had earlier said that ‘Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojna’ should be scrapped as it was not the government’s job to conduct religious pilgrimages.
The scheme ‘Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojna’ was introduced in the year 2012 by the then Shivraj Singh Chouhan led BJP government for non-income tax payee male residents aged 60 and above and women aged 62 years and above.
It is the first time that so many trains were cancelled under the scheme and that too when all the preparations for the journey of the pilgrims had been made and one of the trains was about to depart two days later, an official said.
“The state government is yet to pay Rs 17 crore to the IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) for previous journeys, while a part of the amount was paid. The IRCTC sent several reminders for payment of the outstanding dues to the department of spiritual but still IRCTC was ready to arrange the trains for the pilgrims,” the official added.
The controversy comes amidst the recent confession made by Madhya Pradesh Congress government after it admitted to its own failure to deliver the tall promises of farm loan waiver made by their supremo Rahul Gandhi during the Assembly elections campaign in 2018.
Ahead of assembly elections, the Congress party, and its former President Rahul Gandhi specifically, had repeatedly promised that farmer loan waivers will be granted to all farmers within 10 days of Congress coming to power.
Govind Singh, the General Administration Minister in Kamal Nath’s cabinet had even asked people to forgive them for failing to fulfil Rahul Gandhi’s promise of farm loan waivers and apologised for the same.
Following Madhya Pradesh government’s failure to fulfil its promise made to people of the state, senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia was found agitated against Kamal Nath-led government and threatened to launch a protest if the Congress government in MP does not fulfil promises it had made to people before coming to power.
This statement coming from a Congress MLA is not surprising since there are other loyalists who have in the past reiterated the same uncertainty. In the month of May last year, Chief Minister Kamal Nath had also conceded that Congress ex-president’s promise was nothing but a sham, considering he too accepted then that a complete loan waiver for farmers is not possible in 10 days because nobody has a magic wand.
In fact, there have been several incidents in the past that prove the failure of the Congress government to deliver on its much-touted promise. In February distressed farmers in Madhya Pradesh had threatened ‘mass suicide’ over fake loans in Madhya Pradesh.
In fact, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had also accused the Congress of blatantly lying and deceiving the poor farmers of Madhya Pradesh calling the schemes promised by Congress is a major sham.
The Gujarat police have booked the principal, warden and two hostel assistants of Shri Sahjanand Girls’ Institute in Bhuj for forcibly stripping 64 female students to remove their underwear in order to prove that they were not menstruating. The incident had happened on February 11 when the students were publicly shamed and paraded.
Gujarat: 68 girl students of Shree Sahajanand Girls Institute (SSGI) in Bhuj were reportedly asked to remove their innerwear to prove that they were not menstruating. pic.twitter.com/fG0YZZNd70
It has come to light that the college is run by Swaminarayan Mandir’s followers. The college prevents menstruating female students from entering the temple and kitchen. As per the said practice, the menstruating students are also barred from coming in physical contact with others.
Reportedly, the principal of the college took this step after there was a complaint that menstruating were violating the norms regarding the restrictions placed on them.
Sharing her ordeal, a student said that she was in the class when she was asked whether she was on her periods. She was eventually forced to strip in the restroom. Another student alleged that the authorities had resorted to blackmailing parents to prevent them from seeking the help of the police. Another female student said that a trustee had intimidated her to leave the college hostel and sign a declaration denying the said incident.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) had taken note of the incident and have asked the principal and the warden for an explanation behind forcibly stripping students. Moreover, it had assured to visit the victims and set up an inquiry team.
The Krantiguru Shyamji Krishna Verma Kutch University, to which the SSGI is affiliated, has also formed a committee to probe the incident.
